On the surface, email may seem like a better option than direct mail.However, according to the good folk at Full Tilt Direct, experts when it comes to direct mail advertising, direct mail advertising has many benefits. While the cost associated with direct mail marketing is inevitably higher than email marketing, there are advantages to using the age-old method, not least of which is the fact that it is a more trusted method of advertising. Below are some of the reasons why direct mail can be more effective than email.
There is No Opt-In with Direct Mail
There is no requirement to get permission from the recipient when you send out direct mail materials. This means that it is possible to contact potential clients without asking for permission first. With email, it is necessary to have consent from the recipient before you can send any promotional information.
Direct Mail Stays Relevant for Longer
As direct mail is tangible, it can be much more effective for a longer period of time than email. A piece of marketing material can be pinned to a fridge or kept on a desk for weeks, allowing the recipient to come back to it when ready. This is far less likely to happen with email marketingas emails often get lost and forgotten about.
Direct Mail Does Not Get Filtered into a Junk Folder
Yes, there are some companies that have mail clerks who sort through the mail and get rid of unwanted junk mail, but if you personalize your materials, it has a far greater chance of reaching the intended recipient. With email marketing, spam filters automatically send promotional messages direct to the trash or spam folder, meaning the recipient never even gets to see it.
It’s Possible to Reach Management with Direct Marketing
Targeting the major decision makers in a business can be difficult when using email as management don’t often give consent for contact in this way. Clever companies can use direct mail to reach high-level personnel and the main decision makersby using tactics designed to get past other employees and go straight to the top.
Direct Marketing is Less Crowded
Email marketing has taken over as the method of choice for many companies today, but that just means when it comes to direct mail, the market is far less saturated and so gives those who use it the edge over their competitors. If you want to increase your chances of the intended recipient actually seeing your message, then direct mail is the way to go. A large proportion of business emails never get read because there are simply too many of them to sift through. Many people admit to deleting groups of emails at a time because they are too busy and don’t want their inbox getting clogged.
Why Email and Direct Mail Work Well Together
Using just one form of advertising is generally accepted as a disadvantage these days. To get more from your marketing, you should consider combining both email and direct mail marketing. If you use both, you have a higher chance of getting your message to your customer. This helps to increase brand awareness and, for existing clients, can help to maintain loyalty. Direct mail marketing has a higher response rate than email marketing but the return on investing of email marketing is higher than that of direct mail campaigns. It makes sense therefore to use both forms of marketing to reap the benefits and increase profits. Direct mail continues to be an amazingly effective form of advertising.When combined with email marketing, you are getting the best of both worlds.